Spoke-tenoning machine.



2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

Patented Jan. 17, 1911.

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Patented Jan 17, 1911.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

ELMER E. FLETCHER, OF NYE, MONTANA.

SPOKE-TENONING MACHINE.

Application filed March 4, 1910. Serial No. 547,298.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, Emma E. FLETCHER, citizen of the United States, residing at Nye, in the county of Sweet Grass and State of Montana, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Spoke-Tenoning Machines, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to machines for tenoning spokes and mortising 'the hubs of wagon wheels, and the object of the invention is to provide a very convenient and ef fectiveapparatus of this character, upon which a wheel may be adjustably supported so as to be raised and lowered to bring its spokes into alinement with the bits or angers to be used, and in which the carriage, while locked under ordinary circumstances from any rotative movement, may yet be rotated when desired, and in which the carriage may be moved to any desired point upon the frame and is drawn against it or toward the tenoning auger.

Another object of the invention is to provide an adjustable stop acting to limit the movement of the carriage, and thus rendering it certain that the tenon shall not be cut any farther than desired.

Further objects will be apparent from the description, the invention consisting in the details of construction and arrangement of parts set forth in the accompanying specification and particularly stated in the claims appended.

For a full understanding of the invention and the merits thereof, and to acquire a knowledge of the details of construction, reference is to be had to the following description and accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of my tenoning' apparatus; Fig. 2 is a plan view thereof; Fig. 3 is a fragmentary longitudinal sectionthrough the wheel support; Fig. 4 is a diametrical section through the wheel support; and, Fig. 5 is a fragmentary perspective view showing the work rest supported upon the main carriage.

Corresponding and like parts are referred to in the following description and inclicated in all the views of the drawings by the same reference characters.

My improved spoke tenoning mechanism includes a longitudinally extending frame comprising spaced guide rods 2 supported at their ends by downwardly extending legs 3 Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 1'7, 1911.

which at their lower ends are provided with flanges through which lag screws or other attaching devices pass. Preferably, these bars 2 which constitute the guide rods are tubular. The longitudinal guide rods are held from each other by the brace 4 and the transverse movable braces 5. Upwardly extending from the braces 5 are the standards 6 which at their upper ends are formed with the bearings 7 a for a longitudinally extending shaft provided at its rear end with a detachable crank 8. This shaft 7 is also preferably provided with a band wheel or pulley 9 whereby the shaft may be driven from any suitable power. The shaft 7, forward of the bearing in the upper end of the standard 6, is formed with a relatively wide collar 10 so as to give a good bearing to the auger. threaded for engagement with a hollow anger or other tool which may be used.

Slidingly mounted upon the guide bars 2 is carriage which is formed preferably of a transversely extending base plate 13 having a central thickened portion or hub 14:. The margins of the plate are provided with the eyes 15 or sleeves which surround the bars 2 and slide thereon. It will thus be seen that the carriage is able to travel freely along the bars 2 toward or from the auger. Attached to the plate 13 and passing through the central thickened portion thereof is the rigid spindle 16. This spindle is rigidly held in a vertical position. A plurality of holes 17 are formed in the plate 13, these holes being concentric to the spindle 16. Mounted upon the carriage and rotatable around the spindle 16 is the wheelor work-support 18 comprising a circular plate having an upwardly extending annular wall 19 around its edge. The upper edge of this wall is so disposed as to provide opposed upwardly extending inclines by which the work may be raised and lowered through the instrumentality of a work rest rotatable upon the spindle and resting at its ends upon said incline. As shown in the drawing, these opposed upward inclines are secured by cutting away the edge of the annular The extremity of the shaft is screwwall, or otherwise forming it so as. to pro- 20 and 20 should be more than half the circumference of the wall 19. Hence the wall is cut away, as at 21, this cut-away portion extending beneath the highest point of each of the inclines, as shown in Fig. 1. I do not wish to limit myself to the manner of forming this inclined edge or inclined face that is shown in the drawings. It will thus be seen that two opposed upwardly extending cam faces are provided which extend in a curve coincident with the wall 19, but gradually rising above the same.

Pivotally supported upon the splndle 16 is the work rest 25 which is extended at one end beyond the wall 19 to form a handle whereby the rest may be manipulated. The work rest has sliding engagement with the opposed inclined faces 20 20 so that as the work rest is rotated in one direction, it Wlll rise, while if rotated in the other direction, it will be lowered. Supported upon the work rest and surrounding the spindle is the conical bushing 26 upon which the hub of a wheel may be supported, while mounted upon the other end of the spindle 16 is the conical bushing 27. Means may be provided whereby these bushings may be clamped upon the hub of the wheel, the conical form of the bushings acting to center the hub accurately and to rigidly hold it in proper centered relation to the spindle 16. In order to provide for a rotary movement of the work support 18, I provide a spring 28 which extends out through a slot 29 in the wall 19 so as to form a handle whereby the spring may be operated, the spring carrying a downwardly extending stud or tooth 30 which engages through any one of the openings 17 in the plate 13. This spring with its stud, secures the work support in any desired angular position, while by raising the spring, the support may be rotated upon the spindle 16 and may again be held in any desired adjusted relation.

In order-to feed the carriage toward the auger carried in the collar 10, I provide a contractile spring 32 which is attached at one end to the supporting frame, beneath the shaft 7 preferably to a lever 34, and at its other end is connected to the carriage 12. This contractile spring is for the purpose of feeding the carriage toward the auger so that when one man is operating the auger with one hand, the carriage will feed toward the auger. The lever 34 is pivoted at one end to one of the longitudinal bars 2 and at its other end engages with a guide 35, this guide being provided with a notch 35 in which the lever is received and held when the tension of the spring 32 has been increased by the lever so as to cause the spring to move the carriage toward the auger. An adjustable stop 33 is also provided, having the form of a collar which is shiftable along a one of the rods 2 and which is locked in position by a set screw. This collar 33 will limit the movement of the carriage toward the auger and thus prevent the spokefrom being tenoned too deeply, obviating any chance of the wheel not being perfectly true.

While I have described, so far, this construction as being used for the purpose of tenoning the spokes of wagon wheels, it will be obvious also that mortises might be formed in the hubs of wheels by the same arrangement. My invention is applicable for use in tenoning spokes in either light carriage wheels or heavy wagon wheels, and by means of the construction described, the apparatus is adapted to tenon the spokes of wheels of varying diameters, of any size, and of any degree of dish. The extremity of the spring 28 also forms a handle whereby the carriage may be shifted along its bed.

My invention is simple, easily operated, and I have found it extremely effective in practice.

In order to provide means whereby all kinds of work may be bored to any desired depth or at any angle to the face of the work, I provide the attachment shown in Fig. 5. This comprises a sleeve 40 which surrounds the central spindle 16 and is adapted to rest upon the lowermost cone 26. This sleeve 40 has the two radially projecting arms 41 which at their outer ends are downwardly extended, as at 42, and then outwardly extended, as at 43, the two downwardly extending portions being connected to each other by a brace 44 formed with a downwardly extending rod 45. This rod is adapted to be engaged in an eye 46 mounted to slide upon an arcuate guide bar 47 attached to the carriage 12, as shown in Fig. 2. The eye 46 is tubular for the passage of the bar 47 and is provided with the set screws 48 whereby it may be set at any desired position. It will be obvious that by rotating this work support to a desired angle around the central spindle, and then clamping the eye 46 in place on the arcuate bar 47, work supported upon the supports 42 and 43 will be held at the axis of the auger.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim is any desired angle to 1. In a mechanism of the character described, a frame, a rotatable tool support on one end of the frame, a carriage mounted on the frame and movable toward or from the tool support, a rigid spindle upwardly extending from the carriage, a work holder mounted on the carriage and centered by said spindle, and oppositely disposed cones mounted on the spindle longitudinally shiftable on the spindle and adapted to clamp a wheel between them.

2. In a mechanism of the character described, a longitudinally extending frame, a

rotatable tool support on one end of the frame, a carriage mounted on the frame and longitudinally shiftable therealong toward or from the tool support, a rigid spindle upwardly extending from the carriage, awork holder mounted on the carriage and centered by said spindle, means on the work holder and also centered by the spindle for raising or lowering the work supported thereon, means for clamping a wheel upon said spindle, said means being supported upon the work holder, and an adjustable stop for limiting the movement of the carriage toward the tool support.

3. In a mechanism of the character described, a longitudinally extending frame, a horizontally disposed rotatable shaft on one end of the frame adapted to carry a tool, a carriage shiftably mounted on the frame and movable toward or from the tool, a vertically fixed spindle on the carriage adapted to extend through the hub of the wheel and center the same, a rotatable support on the carriage centered by said spindle, means for holding the support in a rotatably adjusted position, and means for raising or lowering the wheel with relation to the support.

l. In a mechanism of the character described, a longitudinally extending frame comprising spaced parallel bars and supporting legs, a longitudinally extending shaft rotatably mounted on one end of the frame to carry a rotatable tool, a carriage longitudinally movable on the parallel bars of the frame and having curved portions at its outer edges extending around said bars and slidably engaged therewith, a spindle upwardly extending from the carriage, a work support mounted on the carriage and centered by said spindle, means on said support and also centered by the spindle for raising or lowering the Work supported thereon, means for clamping and centering a wheel upon the spindle, means for forcing the carriage toward the tool, and-means for limiting the movement of the carriage toward the tool.

5. In a mechanism of the character de scribed, a frame, a tool-carrying shaft horizontally mounted on one end of the frame, a carriage shiftably mounted on the frame and movable toward or from the tool, a spindle upwardly extending from the carriage, a rotatable wheel support mounted on the carriage and centered by and rotatable around the spindle, means for holding the wheel support in any desired rotatably adjusted position, a supporting member carried upon said wheel support, means on the wheel support for raising or lowering the supporting member, an upwardly tapering cone surrounding and centered on said spindle, and a downwardly tapering cone opposed to the first named cone and also centered by said spindle, said cones being adapted to clamp a wheel between them and center the wheel with relation to the spindle.

6. In mechanism of the character described, a longitudinally extending frame, a horizontal rotatable shaft supported on one end of the frame, adapted to engage a tool, a carriage shiftably mounted on the frame, means for moving the carriage toward the tool, a wheel support on the car riage, having an upturned circular wall, the upper edge of the wall being formed with opposed upwardly inclined portions extending in the same direction in the arc of a circle around the wheel support, and a member extending diametrically across the wheel support and engaging the edge of the wall thereof, said member projecting on one side beyond the wheel support and forming a handle, and means for holding a wheel upon said member.

7. In mechanism of the character described, a frame, a horizontal rotatable shaft on one end of the frame adapted to support a tool, a carriage shiftably mounted on the frame and having an upwardly extending spindle, a wheel support rotatably mountedon the spindle, said wheel support having an upstanding circular wall, the upper edge of the wall being formed with opposed upwardly inclined portions extending each in the same direction in the arc of a circle around the support, and a bar extending across the wheel support and resting upon the upstanding wall thereof, said bar being pivotally connected to the central spindle and projecting at one end beyond the wheel support, thereby forming a handle, and means on the spindle and resting on said bar for clamping the wheel hub.

8. In mechanism of the character described, a longitudinally extending frame, a longitudinally extending shaft thereon, one end of the shaft being adapted to support a tool, a carriage shiftably mounted on the frame and having a vertical spindle, a rotatable wheel support on the carriage, said support having a circumferential wall, the upper edge of which is formed with opposed upwardly inclined portions extending in the same direction in the arc of a circle around the spindle, means for holding the wheel support in any rotatably adjusted position, a diametrically extending bar resting upon the upper edge of the wheel support wall, one end of the bar forming a handle and said bar being pivoted at its middle on said spindle, a lower centering cone mounted on the spindle and resting upon the bar, and an upper centering cone on the spindle, adapted to be clamped against the upper end of a wheel hub.

9. In a mechanism of the character described, a longitudinally extending frame, a rotatable tool-carrying shaft on one end of the frame, a carriage longitudinally shiftable on the frame toward or from the tool, a spring attached at one end to the carriage, a lever pivoted to the frame to which the other end of the spring is attached and whereby tension on the spring may be increased, decreased or entirely relieved, and

' means for holding the lever in its adjusted position.

10. In mechanism of the character described, a longitudinally extending frame,a horizontally rotatable shaft support on one end of the frame and adapted to engage a tool, a carriage shiftably mounted on the frame, a Wheel support on the carriage having an upwardly extending circular wall, a spindle extending upward through the cenradially diverging arms extending from said 20 sleeve, a downwardly and outwardly projecting extension on said arms, a cross bar connecting said extensions, a downwardly extending guide rod attached to sald cross bar, and a shiftable eye mounted upon the 25 work support and shiftable concentrically to the central spindle, through which eye said guide rod passes.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

ELMER E. FLETCHER. [L. s.] Witnesses:

HUGH S. CAMPBELL, D. B. CRAWFORD. 

